CABLE TV REVIEW : Heston Directs a Flawed Remake of ‘Seasons’

Reportedly, when the 1966 film “A Man for All Seasons” was being cast, Charlton Heston wanted the role of Sir Thomas More, the English Lord Chancellor who objected to Henry VIII’s plan to split with the Roman Catholic Church--and lost his head for it.

Heston merely lost the role (Paul Scofield got it) but there may have been nothing “mere” about the missed chance--Heston has practically made a crusade of “Man,” performing the original Robert Bolt play at the Ahmanson in 1979 and in London.

Now, using most of the London cast, he’s made a 2 1/2-hour film of the work (premiering at 5 p.m. today on the new TNT cable). Heston has done more than get the lead role in a (though certainly not the ) film version of the Bolt work; he also directed it.

The 1966 film won Oscars for picture, direction, actor, screenplay, cinematography and costumes. All Heston’s “Man” deserves is a pat on the back for putting The Common Man back in.

The Common Man was Bolt’s narrative stage device, left out of the Fred Zinneman-directed film. Unfortunately for Heston’s, the excision was advisable. As well-played by Roy Kinnear, The Common Man introduces and closes the new film in an interesting manner but otherwise--as steward, boatman, jail guard, executioner--just distracts the viewer and throws off involvement with the seriousness of the work.

Not that Heston as actor or director is capable of causing much involvement anyway. Though powerful in the trial scene, he otherwise plays More like a cross between Ben Hur and Ronald Reagan. His occasional, unfortunate lapses into giddy smiles at moments when he should be very worried take on an eerily Reagan-esque look.

An even weaker performance is derived from Martin Chamberlain as Henry VIII. He lacks the weight, literally and figuratively; instead of coming across as the intriguing, manipulative figure that Robert Shaw made him in 1966, Henry here seems merely petulant. And as Lady Alice More, a wide-eyed, mannered Vanessa Redgrave gives us an idea of how Zasu Pitts might have played the role.

However, some of the acting is first-class, especially Benjamin Whitrow as Thomas Cromwell and John Gielgud in a brief appearance as Cardinal Wolsey.

This “A Man for All Seasons,” for all its faults (including the integral problem of the play’s one-sidedness), is watchable enough--but what’s the point, when the 1966 film is on videocassette and frequently shows up on TV?